Poll

Agriculture

During the 2011 growing season, several of my columns mentioned the fairly severe drought in Henry County which occurred in July and August. These months are prime growing season days, with several critical processes taking place in our crops and vegetables. We suffered diminished yields in virtually all crops, including corn, soybeans, tobacco, vegetables, fruits, hay and pasture.

Here are some tips to help over the holidays and if you want more information go online to the government websites listed.

Celebrate on a budget

The holidays can be expensive, but you don’t have to break the bank to celebrate. Taking a few minutes to plan your holiday spending can help you avoid taking on debt. Start by creating a holiday spending plan, keep track of what you spend, avoid impulse purchases, and leave the credit cards at home. www.consumerfinance.gov/plan-your-spending-to-avoid-holiday-debt/

Nearly all Henry County landowners have some portion of their land in trees. This wooded portion can be just a fraction of an acre here or there, or it may be a sizeable area consisting of dozens or even hundreds of acres. In fact, Henry County is nearly 25 percent covered in woodlands, with uses covering the gamut from wasteland to recreation to well managed timber.

The skills taught throughout 4-H prepare youth for community involvement, with the idea that good leaders give back to their community in a variety ways.

Community service, through 4-H involves service learning in which youth learn a skill or skills and apply it to a service project. This traditional approach to service applies to clubs at the county level, and for some youth, can lead to the national conference and/or the 4-H Congress.

The big news out of the Kentucky Farm Bureau meeting last week is that farm cash receipts are likely to exceed $5 billion for the first time, up from $4.4 billion in 2010. With improvement in returns in corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, horses, hogs and dairy, net farm income is expected to rebound back above $1 billion in 2011, compared to $780 million in 2010.

The big news out of the Kentucky Farm Bureau meeting last week is that farm cash receipts are likely to exceed $5 billion for the first time, up from $4.4 billion in 2010. With improvement in returns in corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, horses, hogs and dairy, net farm income is expected to rebound back above $1 billion in 2011, compared to $780 million in 2010.

Continuous tiny tastes of food throughout the coming days from now through the New Year can result in unwelcome weight gains. Alice Henneman from the University of Nebraska has a short video, “Tiny Tastes Can Total Big Calories over the Winter Holidays,” that shows how bites can add up to excess pounds. You will enjoy watching it if you can here on YouTube.com.

The topic for the 2012 beekeeping essay, sponsored by the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, Inc., is “The results of honey bee pollination in my community.” Active 4-H youth can compete to win three awards, at amounts of $750, $500 or $250. 4-H’ers are encouraged to consider the scope of plants, food crops, trees, habitats and animals that are positively affected by honeybee pollination.

Last Thursday more than 350 students from Eminence Independent Schools and Henry County Public Schools participated in the Reality Store. This event allows students the opportunity to see how difficult it can be to make ends meet financially, month to month.

The weather is cooler, the holiday lights are beginning to twinkle at area stores, and it is time to think about those dreaded words: holiday shopping. No longer do those have to be words that put fear into the hearts of men (and women). The 19th Annual Extension Holiday Bazaar, sponsored by the Henry County Homemakers Organization, will help you fill up those stockings with no problem at all.